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+--- Thread: Some comments on Richies discussion with Kevin Barrett regarding Islam. (/showthread.php?tid=1372)
Some comments on Richies discussion with Kevin Barrett regarding Islam. - Greg D - 07-08-2019
I just wanted to share a few comments about the discussion with Kevin Barrett and his presentation of Islam.
I would like, if I can, to make some arguments for the case that God is not religious and that many of today’s religions are man- made. I often cringe when I hear the things I believe in, being called religious. If every morning when you get up, you choose to wash your face before you have breakfast and you repeat this same pattern every morning, you are being religious but that has nothing to do with God, it’s just about you personally. The several learned Islamic people that I have had discussions with are at pains to stress, that not all Muslims have the same interpretation of the Quran. Yet they seem to want to put all Christians in the same basket. Christian is not the same as Christianity either. A Christian means, anointed one and a Follower of Christ, The word Christianity is often the man made interpretation of the words of God. Islam mentions Jesus by the name Esa, which means saviour. They acknowledge that Jesus was and is the sinless one and that he is in Heaven. Their teachings also believe that he will return to earth and defeat the Anti-Christ, their slant on this story though is that, he will lead a Muslim army on behalf of God to destroy the Christian Churches and the Jewish Synagogues and all other beliefs. They don’t believe that Jesus is the son of God either; their belief is that he was just another prophet. Islam also teaches that Moses, Abraham and Adam and other key Biblical figures, are now part of Islam. Mohammad they say is Gods true prophet, who they acknowledge was a sinner, when the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him to teach the ‘true Religion’. The Bible on the other hand says the last prophet was John the Baptist, whose Job was to baptize and herald the son of God Jesus, who was also to be the sacrificial Lamb of God. An angel did appear to Mary and afterwards Joseph, to explain Jesus birth, but after Jesus death and resurrection it was Jesus himself who appeared to Paul the apostle on the road to Damascus, and later to the Disciple John on the island of Patmos, to give him the all-important book of revelation, why send an angel when you can do it yourself.
Many religions begin, with a so called revelation of enlightenment, which is often contrary to ancient teachings. Much of this goes back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam (Man) and Eve (the mother of all living), were formed and placed in a paradise situation with unlimited access to their creator. Adam and Eve were not the only people on earth at that time, as all the eco systems and diverse peoples and animals already covered every land mass on the planet, as per the creation account in Genesis Chapter 1. The Adam and Eve story begins in Chapter 2 when they become all Mankind’s representatives in Eden. God told them that they had access to everything they could see, except the fruit of one particular tree, which would begin the death process if they ate it. On the other hand if they obeyed Gods words, they would live forever. Adam was also given the job of naming the gardens animals and tending the garden. Then along comes an Arc - angel named Lucifer, His first statement was did God say,’ if you eat of that tree you will die’, his reply to Eve’s answer was, ‘you will not surely die, in that day your eyes will be opened and you will be as gods, knowing good and evil’. The statement your eyes will be opened, is another way of saying, you shall have this knew enlightenment and become as gods, a kind of illuminate, if you listen to Satan’s translation of what God had said. Sadly for Adam and Eve they were cast out of God’s presence and eventually died because they believed Satan’s account, over Gods actual words. The story didn’t end there as we know because of Adam and Eve’s choice its way easier to grow weeds, than plants because of the curse placed on the ground, and life is toil. Sadly we also inherit the same curse of death via Adam. God said to the devil though, that at the appointed time, someone born of a woman (Eve) would come and reverse the curse but he would pay with his life. Mary at the time of Jesus birth was a virgin (not afterwards, as Jesus had half brothers and sisters) but she was still under the curse passed down from Eve, another name for Jesus was Emanuel which means’ God with us’, so the upshot of this is that God who is a Spirit, took on the form of a man and was also born under the curse, to ransom his creation by his death. The teachings of Islam and many so called Christian religions have trouble with this particular concept. The Bible has an analogy of this principle when it talks about a Will, a legal document, by which you could make an agreement, to leave your inheritance to you children. Another name for a will is a testament. Thus the Old Testament speaks of a promised inheritance whereas the New Testament delivers the promises, to all humanity because of the death of the parent, Jesus. To show us all an example, Jesus was baptized by full emersion (not sprinkled or christened) at an age of understanding and the Holy Ghost came down like a dove and a voice from heaven said ‘this is my son in whom I am well pleased’ ( a type of speaking in tongues). This same pattern happened to me at the age of 32.
The common argument, I often hear is, why did God require his creation to do these things and then people go on to justify why they don’t believe in it. My short answer is because he can and I don’t make the rules, I only try to expound their meaning. Likewise if as the adversary, it was your job to deceive, you would flood the world with a multitude of religions and beliefs that most people would find too confusing and give up looking for answers. Arlo Guthrie said you can get whatever you want at Alice’s restaurant, that’s a fitting description of today’s world. In conclusion many people take out an insurance policy on their house and on their life, in the hope that nothing will happen. It’s far easier to argue a case if you have a policy, than if you don’t. I find it funny how people who don’t believe in God or hell, get the most upset when someone says that they are going there. The smart thing would be to do what God said, by way of an insurance policy, in the event that it is true. How do we know its God? The short answer is there will be signs and miracles, this I can bear witness of personally.